Feelin' Crafty


#1

I’m planning on making an Ultimate Dungeon Terrain style set but I’m waffling on one key part: Do I want to go with a more cartoony art style (printed and pasted), or do I want to go 3d realistic (using actual flocking and carved-foam stonework)? They both have their merits.

Cartoon-drawn is easily readable, just needs printouts, scissors, glue, and a bit of “tab-n-slot” ingenuity to make 2d standees.
3D realism looks impressive, but involves more time and supplies. It also may not be as easy to transport.

So cast your votes. Which would you rather see at the table: Cartoony, or realistic?


#2

Minimalist realistic. I don’t need flocking and all that.


#3

Minimalistic realistic? Can you link to a sample of that?


#4

I was considering using printouts on chipboard, slotting, and gluing. The tree design should be able to hold 4 x 1" minis in the branches.

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#5

This is the style I usually aim for when I craft and use terrain. I do avoid flocking and super-realism.


#6

I made a dual-sided UDT last year: https://flickr.com/photos/skippy/albums/72157715427331602

The point of UDT, for me, is that it’s a relatively generic canvas in which players impart their imaginations. Too much detail or realism will lead to disconnects. You could certainly add paper overlays as needed for things like “a small stream runs through here”, but adding flocking and terrain details reduces the generic-ness, and therefore the overall value / utility, of UDT.


#7

Well, I’m providing links for UDT…

But this is also a possibility for the suitcase dungeon mentioned above.

As to you tube links…

The essentials in my opinion.



Black magic craft…for his wash!!!


And tool recommendations. Oooh and uses of Modpodge!!! It’s like duck tape for terrain.

#8

I’ve been fans of all of them for a long while.

I just found one of my foldable sci-fi battle-boards. It’s for fights in an industrial complex.

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I was thinking of redoing them without the grid.


#9

Here’s my current DnD battleboard:
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#10

@slaghag on the Discord channel had something that blew me away.

She created walls using a 3D printer…but it can be anything. Just create a template for them, and print the floor as needed.

Note the walls are low for easy access. She also magnetized the walls, plays on a metal sheet and hold down the printed paper.

I love the look and simplicity of it.


#11

Those are DungeonSticks. Free printable files and very cool modular sets.


#12

Yup…but since the OP is wanting to craft. The system is still applicable. Though the Dungeonsticks did get edited.

Magnets in the walls, a couple of metal plates, and printed paper for different floors. Makes for a very Mobil set. A backpack, a few ziplock bags…metal plates with magnets that with strong magnets…can be used to keep the floor paper sheets safe.


#13

I tried my hand at more official Ultimate Dungeon Terrain. Chipboard was warping too much, but Home Depot sells 18" round pieces of plywood, precut. I glued dollar store foam board to each side and trimmed to the wood.
Here’s side one so far:

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I’m using quadrants to simplify area of affect spells. Burst attacks target everything in the caster’s zone. Blast attacks can target any zone (except the Sanctuary/ outer ring).
It’s also great for starship combat. Plop the enemy star cruiser into the center and you have instant firing arcs.


#14

Minimal 3D too for me. I use anything free, that’s my rule. Old rubbish bottles packaging foam anything like that. I get free wallpaper samples from DIY store to make the ground pattern too. !
Walls are covid flow test stuck together.


#15

very cool approach! Thats creative


#16

I had to rebuild them. The center circle (focus) was too small for a boss mini to be surrounded by players or allies. The new Focus ring is 8" diameter and the Sanctuary (outer ring) is 1.5" thick.
I still have to make the fire and ice board, but my local dollar store is out of foam board.

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#17

I have a suggestion for you. You can make the center and middle parts removable and you can then mix and match them however you like.

One obvious downside is you need to cut them and file them all to make them fit but this way your setup will be modular. Center piece can be grassy, one middle piece can be fiery, one can be stone… You get the idea.


#18

that really got me thinking if i need a lot of those to mix up😅damn you!
No thanks for the idea, really :sunglasses:


#19

That’s an interesting idea.


#20

A good, generic, moderately realistic grey dungeon floor for a UDT board 12-24” in diameter with three zones (NEAR, FAR, and “out of range/sight”) is easy to make out of 1/2” or 1” foam and provides a versatile basic play surface you can augment with index cards or 3D terrain.

I made mine out of a full two-foot square panel of 1” thick foam and placed it on an 18” lazy Susan. I use a 1.25” (Wyloch-style) grid in the flagstone pattern (to match my dungeon tiles and scratch-built terrain), and I prefer to keep my UDT square for more “real estate,” but I round the corners of the zones to reinforce the indication of radial distance from the center area. This creates 30x30 square central zone with clear concentric zones of 50x50, 70x70, and 90x90 around it to represent various abstract ranges or use the grid as I see fit. There is also plenty of space to set up a detailed floor plan of chambers and corridors by indicating room corners and doors with tokens or scatter terrain pieces.

I am currently in process of building a second identical UDT board.